Kreative Kids recertified as ‘Gold’ learning center

Scott Cousins, scousins@civitasmedia.com

Published
10:05 pm CDT, Saturday, March 26, 2016

John Badman|The Telegraph Braylon Mahallond, a pre-schooler at Alton Day Care, 121 W. Elm Street in Alton, builds with blocks Friday. The center, which provides programming for up to 169 children six weeks to 12 years, primarily for the Alton School District, was recently recently recertified with the “Gold Circle of Quality” by ExceleRate Illinois. less

John Badman|The Telegraph Braylon Mahallond, a pre-schooler at Alton Day Care, 121 W. Elm Street in Alton, builds with blocks Friday. The center, which provides programming for up to 169 children six weeks to ... more

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John Badman|The Telegraph Braylon Mahallond, a pre-schooler at Alton Day Care, 121 W. Elm Street in Alton, builds with blocks Friday. The center, which provides programming for up to 169 children six weeks to 12 years, primarily for the Alton School District, was recently recently recertified with the “Gold Circle of Quality” by ExceleRate Illinois. less

John Badman|The Telegraph Braylon Mahallond, a pre-schooler at Alton Day Care, 121 W. Elm Street in Alton, builds with blocks Friday. The center, which provides programming for up to 169 children six weeks to ... more

Kreative Kids recertified as ‘Gold’ learning center

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ALTON — Areanna and Avery have a lot of fun at the Kreative Kids Learning Center.

“I play Legos and blocks,” Avery said Friday after finishing breakfast (French toast and scrambled eggs).

Areanna agreed that Legos and blocks were best, and both also love to play dress up and in the three- and four-year-old classroom’s “kitchen.”

And while the two girls like the idea of playing, what they and the others in their class don’t know is that learning is going on, and that is very important for children their age.

“That is our motto, ‘We learn through play,’” said Karissa Winchester, one of their teachers.

Just another day at the center, a nonprofit housed in the former McKinley School on Elm Street.

The center, which provides programming for up to 169 children six weeks to 12 years, primarily for the Alton School District, was recently recently re-certified with the “Gold Circle of Quality” by ExceleRate Illinois.

“It is a statewide program that certifies centers based on level and quality of performance,” said Keith Neuber, CEO of the center.

The facility has been operating for about 45 years, and about 75 percent of the children attending come from low-income homes.

Neuber said they were the first Riverbend area facility to receive the gold rating in 2012.

“It’s really important to us because it says we’re providing the best care and even though a large portion of our families are low-income, you’re getting the best care that you can get at any location here.”

He said the certification is a “rigorous” process.

“People are so confused with childcare,” he said. “They think it’s just glorified babysitting, but we really are an educational facility.”

Early childhood education is considered vital by educators, but misunderstood by many parents.

“The human being learns 75 percent of everything we need to know to be a human being by the age of two,” he said. “By the age of two you’ve learned to walk, talk, use your hands and fingers, the beginnings of receptive and expressive language. All those basic foundations are in place by two years of age, yet as a society we continued to overlook the significance.”

He early childhood education is particularly important for for them.

“Because we work with low income families, to be able to catch any child who may have developmental delay, so we can target whatever training and education we have to make sure that child is competitive when they get to kindergarten,” he said. “Our kids do really, really well when they go to kindergarten.”

Winchester agreed.

“Early care and education is so important,” she said. “We teach them what they need to know before they get into school. We mold their little minds.”

She said if they are better prepared when they enter kindergarten they will perform better throughout their school years.

About 75 percent of the center’s clients receive some kind of subsidy.

“You have to be going to work or going to school in order to qualify for care,” Neuber said. “We hold our parents accountable. We have a 98 percent collection rate of our parent fees. If your parent fee is $300 a month or $5 a month, you still have to pay that amount.”

He said they see themselves as an “empowerment agency.”

“We really see ourselves as an empowerment agency.”

As parents are able to find jobs or make more money, the center also has scholarship programs available.

As parents move into the $25,000 to $40,000 annual income range, they become ineligible for subsidies. The irony is that many then cannot afford the child care necessary for them to work.

“We used to have families that had to turn down a raise or quit their job because they couldn’t afford care when they came off the subsidy program,” Neuber said.

The center is partnered with the United Way of Greater St. Louis, Riverbend Growth Association and the North Alton/Godfrey Business Council.

Enrollment is currently underway for the 2016 Summer School Age Program. For more information visit www.kreativekidsadc.com, the center’s Facebook page or call 618-467-0630.